LCES Panther Cub Communication #25
Week of February 10-13, 2025
  | Para traducir al español, desplácese hasta el final y haga clic en la bandera  . |
| LCES Families, Happy February! We are rolling right along in semester two. Please reach out should you have any concerns, celebrations, or questions. Enjoy some pictures from our attendance celebration Thursday afternoon. Congratulations to Mrs. Compean’s crew, Ms. Enriquez’s crew, and Mrs. Regan’s crew for winning our January attendance challenge with the highest student attendance percentage for the month. They enjoyed a beautiful afternoon with snow cones and sledding!  We’ve also wrapped up our Jump Rope for Heart Challenge led by Mrs. Ayers. Collectively as a school we raised $6,322.65 for the American Heart Association! This is our highest EVER amount donated all thanks to YOU! Here are some pictures of our students “jumping rope for their heart”.  Have an awesome weekend, go panthers! Brandi Lovely, Principal blovely@lakecountyschools.net | |
| K-2 Specifics | |
Jump Rope for Heart FINAL UPDATE: Our Kids Heart Challenge program has come to a close and we are so grateful for your support and dedication! A heartfelt thank you to our Lake County Elementary School families for your engagement and involvement in any way you were able! We are so grateful for what you have helped our community achieve- we are thrilled to announce that our school has raised $6,322.65 of our $2,500.00 goal! 30 Families engaged in Kids Heart Challenge 9 Families completing Finn’s Lifesaving Mission $6,322.65 were raised to support the American Heart Association We are proud of our partnership with the American Heart Association, their impact affects us all, things like: – The tobacco buying age – Nutrition access – CPR Trainings – Congenital Heart Defect Research (1/100 babies are born with CHD!)  Nuestro programa de Kids Heart Challenge ha llegado a su fin y estamos muy agradecidos por tu apoyo y dedicación. ¡Muchas gracias a nuestras familias de la escuela Lake County Elementary School por su compromiso y participación de cualquier manera que haya podido! Estamos muy agradecidos por lo que ha ayudado a nuestra comunidad a lograrlo. Estamos emocionados de anunciar que nuestra escuela ¡Hemos recaudado de nuestra meta de $2,500.00! 30 de Familias involucradas en el Kids Heart Challenge 9 Familias completaron la Misión de Salvavidas de Finn $6,322.65 se recaudaron para apoyar a la Asociación Americana del Corazón Estamos orgullosos de nuestra sociedad con la Asociación Americana del Corazón, su impacto nos afecta a todos, cosas como: – La edad para comprar tabaco – Acceso Nutricional – Capacitación en RCP – Investigación congénita de defectos cardiacos (¡1/100 bebes nacen con CC!) Here is an update on our most recent DIBELS testing for K-2 students: We are excited to share an update on how our DIBELS middle of the year benchmark reading assessment went in kindergarten through second grade. This assessment focuses on students’ literacy skills and development. First, thank you for your partnership in sending your students to school during the testing window as we were able to test 100% of our students. In looking at the data as a school, 47 students moved up a color band. This means their skills improved so much that they moved from red (well below benchmark) to yellow (below benchmark), green (at benchmark), or blue (above benchmark). One student in Mrs. Compean’s crew moved from red to blue! That is amazing growth across the school and something we are really proud of. Teachers recently came together and engaged in a data talk where they noticed that every single student in our school showed growth in at least one sub-skill from the beginning of the year to middle of the year. Even if it’s just a couple of points, growth is something to be celebrated. At the beginning of the year, 30% of our students were reading at grade level. Our middle of the year DIBELS data shows 35% of our students are reading at grade level. At LCES, we are addressing this issue head on by increasing student engagement in the classroom and creating a data driven culture of responsive planning and instruction with our staff. This work has been and will continue to be our highest priority throughout the second semester. We also really need your support. Two ways you can support accelerated reading growth is by reading everyday with your student for at least 10 minutes, and / or helping your student log on to Boost through their Clever badge. Currently only 9% of our students are meeting their recommended minutes for Boost each week. Boost is a research based program based on the Science of Reading to help improve student’s foundational literacy skills through an interactive platform. If you are needing help getting logged on to Boost, please reach out to your child’s teacher. I am certain that if we all work together we can make sure all of our students will read at grade level. Together we can and GO PANTHERS! February Reading Challenge: Families, please be sure to look in your child’s Thursday folder this week to participate in our February Reading Challenge. This is a great opportunity to further motivate students and celebrate the joy of reading in all languages at home. Happy reading! -Mrs. Mulcey, Literacy Specialist February HOWL (Habit of Work & Learning) Focus: CompassionFor the month of February, we are celebrating the HOWL of Compassion. Compassion means, “I care for and help others, my community, and the world around me.” The Student of the Month for each crew will be announced at our next community meeting on February 27th. If your student is chosen by their teacher, we will reach out at the beginning of that week to let you know! Semester 2 Attendance Challenge:  We also have an exciting semester-long attendance challenge to share! This semester, K-2 students who have 1 or fewer absences will have the opportunity to attend a Rockies baseball game in Denver at Coors Field on May 22nd! We will be checking attendance from Jan 6th-May 1st to see who qualifies. Families will be notified if your student has earned this opportunity the week of May 5th. The game is at 1:10 pm so students will come to school as usual, board the buses at 10:00 am, enjoy the game, and return back to school between approximately 5:30-6 pm. The tickets are offered to only students and staff at a reduced rate so we are unable to welcome parent volunteers for this event. Students may opt out of attending if parents so choose (Opt out deadline: May 7th). LCIS is also doing an attendance reward at this Rockies game as well so please look for specific information from LCIS in their parent communication as the criteria is slightly different between schools. Make sure your student is present at school every day as long as they are healthy in order to earn this opportunity! We are so excited for this special event! HOWLs Challenge: It is a new quarter which means we have a new HOWLS challenge! Your student will try to earn as many HOWL Dollars as they can by March 20th for the chance to make an indoor snowman craft and drink hot chocolate with the principals on March 26th or 27th during our spring conference half days! The top six HOWL dollar earners in each class will win. If your student wins, we will send home paper communication as well as a message from the front office. Students can earn HOWL Dollars by showing any of our HOWLs to any staff member in the school. The HOWL that we are focusing on for January is craftsmanship. Parent Volunteers: If interested in volunteering, we encourage parents to reach out to their child’s teacher or Mrs. Lovely to see where the biggest need of help may be. Sometimes this may look like making copies or laminating new math materials. We always appreciate the extra help! Food Program: Smart Bellies delivers kid-friendly food weekly and a bag of produce for our families. Register by filling out the form at https://forms.gle/5KyNS6wkEVv89uns6. We will leave the bags of food outside of your door each week. Lake County deliveries happen on Thursday each week. Please feel free to reach out to Smart Bellies at smartbelliesco@gmail.com or 970-368-2848 if you have questions, need special accommodations or more food. Smart Bellies entrega semanalmente comida para niños y una bolsa de vegetales para nuestras familias. Regístrese completando el formulario https://forms.gle/5KyNS6wkEVv89uns6. Dejaremos las bolsas de comida afuera de su puerta cada semana. Condado de Lake: Las entregas se realizarán los jueves de cada semana. No dude en comunicarse con Smart Bellies en smartbelliesco@gmail.com o al 970-368-2848 si tiene preguntas, necesita adaptaciones especiales o más comida. Interested in more arts experiences for youth/kids in our community? Please take this 1 minute survey to help guide the Tabor Opera House’s growing youth/kids arts programs. https://bit.ly/tyckids | |
| K-2 Project Dream Information | |
| Hello Project Dream Families, Elementary School Information & Policies Raquel Contreras | LCES Site Supervisor | 719-293-5363 | rcontreras@lakecountyschools.net Project Dream Trivia Fundraiser What: Project Dream Fundraiser during Trivia with Taryn When: Friday 2/7, 6:00 pm Where: Freight, 320 E 9th St Details: $10 ticket at the door, cash bar, bring your own food, teams of 6. More info can be found here.  El Camioncito Schedule El Camioncito is a Mobile Learning Center, a school bus that has been redesigned for tutoring and enrichment activities. El Camioncito visits different neighborhoods in Lake County to bring fun and learning directly to students after school. Students do not need to register to attend El Camioncito programs. However, students do need to be dropped off by a parent/guardian, and a parent/guardian needs to be available in the case of an emergency or issue while their students are on the bus. Mondays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Mountain View Tuesdays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Mountain Valley Estates Wednesdays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Lake Fork Thursdays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Mountain View Friday Morning (10:00 am – 12:00 pm) Mountain Valley Estates Friday Afternoon (1:00 – 3:00 pm) Lake Fork Parking Locations: Mountain View- parked next to the office in Mountain View West Lake Fork- parked next to the office Mountain Valley Estates- parked in front of unit 25 Take a tour of El Camioncito by clicking this link! If you have any questions about El Camioncito, reach out to Mandi Newton: 719-427-7143 or mnewton@lakecountyschools.net | |
| Preschool Specifics | |
| Hello Center Families, Thanks to everyone who brought in clothing donations. We could use a few more! Our reserves of “just in case” clothes are running a little low. These are handy to have on hand for the accidents that are inevitable in a preschool classroom. Our largest need is pants, and boys pants in particular. Help us replenish with any outgrown clothing you might have available. You can drop these in the main office or with your child’s teachers. Need to make changes to your pick up list or emergency contacts? Our front office can help. It is important to have an emergency contact listed for your child. This is someone that the school can contact in case of emergencies if you are not available. If you need to make adjustments, add, or confirm this contact please call our front office at 486-6890. Here are a few pics of preschool in action.  Enjoy your weekend! See you Monday! Tanya Lenhard –PreK Director Office phone: 719-486-6928 Cell: 719-293-1055 tdlenhard@lakecountyschools.net Classroom and Curriculum Updates: – This week began our study of plants. The house area was transformed into a Farmer’s Market in each classroom. On Thursday, our preschoolers planted grass. In the upcoming weeks we will be measuring and tracking the growth of our grass plants. – Go on a nature walk with your child and talk about different parts of the plants you see. – Talk about plants at mealtimes and whether they are fruits, vegetables or grains. Make a list of different plants that members of your family like to eat. – It’s that time of year again! Mail month is coming soon! Please click on this link to get more information about Mail Month at The Center. Remember to make a mailbox with your child and bring it into school by 2/13. Just in time for our Valentine’s day celebration. – Preschool students will be visiting the Post office on February 19th and 20th. Please reach out to your teacher if you would like to join as we learn more about our local community.  We want to introduce you to Marie! Marie is our Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. She collaborates with The Center through SolVista to provide virtual consultative services to our program, our classrooms, and individual children/families. Marie will be sharing a weekly parent connection tip in our newsletter: Marie’s Parenting Tips: Redirection Redirection is a technique that involves changing the focus of a child’s attention to calm them down and avoid conflict. The caregiver is still in control, but the child feels like they are too. Here are the steps to take to redirect your child. – Always validate feelings first – tell them it’s okay to feel this way. – Make a guess at why they are feeling that way – Offer two alternative options A or B – If a child offers another option C and it works for you use itIf the child refuses, try again with another two options, for example, “You can walk by yourself or I can help you.” At this step always offer an option that allows you to take control of the situation if needed. Kelly Horning Assistant Director Office Phone: 719-486-6927 khorning@lakecountyschools.net Family Engagement Corner  The month of February is known as the month of LOVE! Valentine’s Day, International Friendship Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, National Make a Friend Day, and National Love Your Pet Day are all celebrated this month. These special days on the calendar are positive and upbeat celebrations of loving and caring for our families, friends, and communities.  And, as we focus on LOVE this month, it can sometimes be difficult to put into words and explain to children the concept and scope of LOVE. In fact, children sometimes can explain LOVE maybe better than we as adults can. The following are excerpts from an article that has been around for a while where a group of professional people posed the question “What Does Love Mean?” to a group of children. Their responses are precious – enjoy! What Does Love Mean? See How Kids Describe Love “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” Rebecca – Age 8 “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – Age 4 “Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri – Age 4 “Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay.” Danny – Age 7 “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas, if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby – Age 7 “Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.” Noelle – Age 7 “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Tommy – Age 6 “During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” Cindy – Age 8 “Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine – Age 5 “Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” Ann – Age 4  Rhonda H. DeVoe Preschool Family and Community Engagement Manager Office Phone: (719) 486-6925/Cell Phone: (719) 293-1403 rdevoe@lakecountyschools.net Original Article:What Does Love Mean? See How 4-8 Year-Old Kids Describe Love, by Ladan Lashkari | DailyGood | |
| PK-2 Important Dates | |
| Important Dates: – February 13: Panther Day during K-2 Specials, Valentine’s Day Celebrations in Class (see the letter below) – February 27: K-2 Community Meeting- Compassion led by 1st Grade – March 3-6: Dr. Seuss Spirit Week (flier below) – March 6: Panther Day during K-2 Specials: “The Lorax”, K-2 Dollar Day: Mustache March – March 10-14: Spring Break, NO SCHOOL | |
| Fliers | |
  One Community Project 12/19/24Leadville and Lake County have launched the One Community Project, a year-long initiative to create a shared vision and comprehensive plan for the future of our community. Guided by input from the people who live and work here, this plan will shape the policies, programs, and projects of both the City and County for the next 10 years to ensure a future that reflects the values of our diverse community. Whether you’ve lived here for generations or just moved in, your voice matters in shaping Leadville and Lake County’s future. We need your help – Share what you love, fear, and hope for Leadville and Lake County by completing a quick Values form (bit.ly/One-Comm).Visit https://onecommunityproject.com/ to learn more about the project, explore upcoming events, and find ways to get involved. Your voice matters—together, we can shape a future that reflects the heart of our community!_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Leadville y el Condado de Lake han lanzado El Proyecto Una Comunidad/One Community Project, una iniciativa de un año para crear una visión compartida y un plan integral para el futuro de nuestra comunidad. Guiado por los aportes de las personas que viven y trabajan aquí, este plan dará forma a las políticas, programas, y proyectos tanto de la Ciudad como el Condado durante los próximos 10 años, garantizando un futuro que refleje los valores de nuestra comunidad diversa. Ya sea que haya vivido aquí por generaciones o que se haya mudado recientemente, su voz es fundamental para dar forma al futuro de Leadville y el Condado de Lake. Necesitamos su ayuda – Comparta lo que ama, teme y espera para Leadville y el Condado de Lake completando un breve formulario de valores (bit.ly/41qxjTe). Visite https://onecommunityproject.com/ para obtener más información sobre el proyecto, explorar eventos futuros y descubrir formas de involucrarse. ¡Su voz importa – juntos, podemos construir un futuro que refleje el corazón de nuestra comunidad! ~*~        ~*~ This project is focused on creating a vibrant community space on the 12-acre open area adjacent to Lake County Elementary School. The Harrison Park Master Plan aims to incorporate affordable housing, open space, and recreation based on community feedback. We know how important more and affordable housing is to you as an employer and business owner. We want to hear from you and your employees on how we can best serve the community as a whole. Here are what some of our business owners and major employers have to say about housing: “Housing continues to be a significant challenge to our ability to staff our schools with qualified educators. An entry-level teacher has a gross monthly income of $3,600. A goal of spending no more than 30% of their income on housing would require monthly housing costs of under $1,200. This is nearly impossible in the current housing market.” Kate Bartlett, Superintendent of the Lake County School District “Because Leadville’s housing market has been turned upside down by forces out of our control, it is harder than ever for local businesses to prosper here. If we don’t create more housing for our workers, our business community and the diverse nature of our town (and downtown) will be forever changed.”Fritz Howard, Melanzana Here’s how you can get involved:Take the survey – Your input is essential to ensure the plan reflects community needs. (https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8129093/Harrison-Park-Master-Plan-Community-Survey)Join us at the next Open House – Meet the project team in person, share your ideas, and learn more about the planning and design process. The Open House will take place in January 22nd in the Amax Room of the Lake County Public Library. Stay tuned for updates! To learn more about the project, take the survey, or join our mailing list, please visit harrisonparkmasterplan.comThank you for being part of this important community effort! Your feedback will play a crucial role in shaping a future that benefits Lake County residents.     Do any of these items belong to your children?  If these items belong to your children or if you know who they belong to, please feel free to stop by the office and grab them or you can also contact us by email or text if needed. lces@lakecountyschools.net or 719-293-0931 Thank you! | |
